"The point is now there isn't anything really that can be done . . . You have to do damage control, and damage control does not mean pittering away with airstrikes or drones or anything like that. That's not going to work.''

In his new book, Hampton explores the stories of the nation's most famous fighter planes and the men who flew them over the past century.

"It's amazing to me that within 60 years of guys flying in those little underpowered canvas-covered kites we could be on the moon,'' he said.

"I tried to pick guys in pivotal events within each period and then write about it from the cockpit point of view.

"A lot of it I didn't know, and I figure if I didn't know it as a professional pilot, then a lot of other people might not know it either. It's good to know history, otherwise we repeat it, right?''